Ballingeary (Ireland)

Ballingeary (Irish: Béal Átha an Ghaorthaidh, pronounced [ˌbʲeːl̪ˠ aːh ənˠ ˈɣeːɾˠhiː]) is a village in the Shehy Mountains in County Cork, Ireland. The village is located within the Muskerry Gaeltacht (Irish-speaking area). According to the 2016 census, over 42% of the population speak Irish on a daily basis outside the education system. In 2022, Ballingeary had the highest proportion of Irish speakers among the population aged three years and over in Ireland, at 89%. It has an active Irish-language summer school, Coláiste na Mumhan (College of Munster), which was attended by Thomas MacDonagh in the summer of 1906. It also hosts a yearly agricultural and horticultural show. Ballingeary is 19 km west of Macroom, on the R584 road. The River Lee rises a few kilometres west of the village, at Gougane Barra Park.